Adoption options

[Ashllen]

I had an escapee hen that I thought was snatched up by wildlife....until she popped up 2 weeks later broody. I've tried following her when I see her (I also have left out food and water during the day) but I've only managed to spot her twice and each time she ran off into the woods before I could do anything. Now it's been 20 days since she ran off and I'm expecting her with babies in tow anyday now. So any advice on ways to find un sexed chicks homes besides obvious things like Facebook marketplace or craiglist, would be awesome. Also once they are hatched, will she willingly come back to the flock? I've hatched a couple eggs before but that was a very controlled situation.

 

[FrostRanger]

You can try the buy sell trade section, I assume you have a rooster? In any case she should be back eventually when she's done

 

[Mrs. K]

When I have had this happen they just bring them to the coop / run and settle in like they have always been there.

Instead of rehoming all of the chicks (if we are not counting our chicks before they hatch?) you might consider selling a few of your older girls and keeping a equal number of pullets. This will give you a multi -generational flock, so your birds don’t get all old at the same time.

I have a forever flock, but I find it healthier if they are not all the same age. Laying hens can be easier to sell.

Contact 4-h groups for other poultry people, post at the feed store, or often the county extension people are aware of poultry clubs.

 

[Ashllen]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Here is the update. Literally 2 days after my original post my sister knocked on my door with a simple question.
"Why is one of ur chickens out and why does it have like ten babies?"
I quickly came out to see Miss Impossible and her 7 chicks. I quickly round them up and got them back with the flock. I let them stay until they were about 3 months old, I could tell which ones were Roosters at that point (3 roos, 4 pullets) and sold the roos. Im going to pretend the single guy that bought all three just really likes Roosters and they are all running around happy together. I kept the 4 hens but sadly one took after her mother and hopped the fence, I found out by finding a trail of feathers on the outside of my run and only 3 chicks. I lost the second from a raccoon. I was keeping the chicks in an old bunny hutch so they didnt have to fight the adults for a place to sleep til they were big enough to fight back properly. But they were trying to roost so I removed the floor tray (used to make cleaning bunny pellets easier) and put a board in as a roost. The gap was only an inch wide... but I came home from work to find two terrified chicks and the horrifying sight of a single ripped wing and lots of blood. After that I applied cougar piss and moved the survivors into the main hen house. I haven't seen any more signs of the raccoons since but im keeping my guard up since my sister in law lost her entire flock to these same raccoons (I moved into the same neighborhood as where she lived). Her flock was massacred like 5 years back and im pretty sure a fellow chicken enthusiast neighbor took "care" of them like how the coyote problem from a year before suddenly "stopped" being a problem. So that's that, thanks again!